SNEAK PEEK: WALMART NEIGHBORHOOD MARKET

Store will beef up slim grocery store options in Sherman Heights

San Diego’s first Walmart Neighborhood Market, already filled with all but the perishable items, is set to open any day in Sherman Heights.

The giant retailer’s Neighborhood Market concept brings smaller-format stores — about one-third the size of its Supercenters — to communities to meet their basic grocery and pharmaceutical needs.

The 42,000-square-foot store on Imperial Avenue will offer an array of fresh produce, meats and packaged foods, along with freshly baked breads and Hispanic pastries. It also features household basics like paper products and cleaning supplies, and a number of services including check cashing and a pharmacy.

Placed between AutoZone, R & V Products restaurant supply and an old school, the Neighborhood Market will double the supermarket options in the economically depressed urban neighborhood. The only other grocery nearby is Northgate González Market, which anchors the new Mercado del Barrio mixed-use development about a half-mile southwest.

Walmart’s 250 Neighborhood Markets, designed more like a typical grocery store, across the country average 38,000 square feet and employ about 65 people, compared with Walmart Supercenters, which average 182,000 square feet in size and employ about 300.

San Diego County is home to 22 Walmart stores, including general stores, Supercenters, Sam’s Club stores and one Neighborhood Market in La Mesa.

Located on the site of an old granary-turned farmers market, this Neighborhood Market is unlike any other, said Aaron Rios, director of public affairs for Walmart, because it used the original building, which is more than 100 years old. The company replaced the roof with a more energy-efficient one and reinforced portions of the wall that were not earthquake-safe, but kept the original four brick walls and grain silos. Walmart also removed the old Virgin of Guadalupe mural and is having it restored so it can be placed back on the side of the building.

He said the store is set to open as soon as it completes the last few permitting steps with the city, “hopefully in a few very short days.”